| Mumbai breathes easy, finally | |
| BS Reporter / Mumbai November 30, 2008, 0:09 IST | |
Attackers had enough ammo to kill 5,000, says Maharashtra Deputy CM R R Patil.
Mumbai’s longest battle with terror ended just after dawn today as commandos secured the Taj Mahal hotel after three bloody days that killed 183 people and wounded 295. The death toll may rise as bodies were still being collected from the nearby Trident-Oberoi complex, scene of another siege that ended yesterday.
“All operations are over. The National Security Guard has formally reported that the operations are complete and now Taj, Oberoi and Nariman House are being sanitised.” ML Kumawat, special secretary in the Union Home Ministry, told reporters.
The 10 terrorists — 9 of whom have been killed and one arrested — had enough arms and ammunition to kill 5,000 persons, Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister R R Patil said, minutes after the siege ended. Nearly 16 kg of explosives were seized from the Taj alone, Patil said.
Of the 183 killed, civilians alone accounted for 141 including 22 foreigners. Two NSG commandos, 15 Maharashtra police personnel, one Railway Protection Force constable and two members of the Home Guard were also killed. Six NSG personnel were injured.
The security forces rescued 250 people in the Oberoi, 300 in the Taj and 12 families of 60 people in Nariman House. They recovered two AK-47 rifles, nine magazines, two pistols and mobile phones from Nariman House, a Jewish residential complex. In the Trident and the Oberoi, two more AK-47 rifles, eight magazines and two pistols were seized. Recoveries from the Taj were yet to be disclosed. The terrorists had access to modern communication like GPS, satellite phone and mobile phones, Patil said.
Security forces were still combing the Taj in search of survivors of the terrorist attack after commandos killed the remaining militants to end the siege. Television images showed commandos exchanging gunfire with one of the remaining terrorists just after daybreak before bundling his body out of a hotel window.
The main entrances of both the Oberoi and the Trident hotels were sealed with wooden planks. Glass windows of the first-floor Kandhar restaurant were peppered with bullet holes, while the Trident lobby was covered in broken glass, with bullet holes in the glass banisters and in the doors leading to the Opium bar. While the Trident has been sanitised, work at the Oberoi is expected to take more time. Guests were let back into their rooms at the Trident this morning to collect their belongings.
The ground floor of the 565-room Taj Mahal hotel was flooded and strewn with debris.
Preliminary investigation showed of the 10 terrorists who took the sea route to Mumbai, four went to the Taj, two each to Nariman House and Trident-Oberoi and the remaining two to the Chatrapati Shivaji Railway Terminus. The arrested terrorist, Mohammed Ajmal Kasam, is a Pakistani, Patil said.
Police sources said the terrorists had planned to blow up the Taj – the way the Marriott was in Pakistan. But they dropped that plan in view of the strong external stone structure of the older side of the building complex.
The attackers began planning their assaults six months ago and had reached Mumbai in three speedboats from Gujarat after arriving in one boat from Karachi.
Tata Group Chairman Ratan Tata along with other top executives including Indian Hotels Vice Chairman Krishna Kumar surveyed the hotel early in the morning. Tata, who stayed in the hotel for around two hours, was reportedly extremely emotional after seeing the destruction and tragedy inside. He didn’t talk to the media.
Meanwhile, the nation today gave a tearful farewell to Hemant Karkare, the chief of the Anti-Terorism Squad, who was gunned down by terrorists on Wednesday night. Karkare was cremated today with full state honours amid slogans against politicians. Karkare's wife refused to accept the compensation offer from Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi.
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